Music from 1920s Berlin

Today we present a programme of music from the 1920s and 1930s, but with a special focus: we’re featuring an extensive collection of authentic popular music recordings from 1920s Germany, courtesy of Jo Yardley and the 1920s Berlin Project.

The collection includes some tunes from the US and Britain, but it focuses on home-grown artists from the era of the Weimar Republic, such as Julian Fuhs. Fuhs was born in Berlin in 1891, emigrated to the US in 1916, and then returned in 1924. He and his widely popular orchestras, playing American-inspired music, were responsible for establishing jazz in Germany in the 1920s.

In addition there are modern re-creations of the music of this time and place, courtesy of artists like Max Raab and the Palast Orchester and, more generally, other pieces of popular music from the period between the First and Second World Wars.

The 1920s Berlin Project is an effort to recreate the atmosphere of Berlin in 1929, through the medium of the virtual world of Second Life. SL gives you the opportunity to travel in time, virtually. Berlin in the 1920s was a very interesting time, politically, culturally and in many other ways. The idea behind the Project is to try and recreate the atmosphere of this fantastic city in that amazing era.

Their goal is to show an as realistic and authentic as possible experience of visiting this part of history. The 1920s Berlin Project wanted to show visitors both sides of the coin; the amazing modern houses near Unter Den Linden where modern rich people in the latest fashion live a life of leisure, but also the dirty, narrow streets with tiny apartments where the poor try to survive.

You can learn more about the 1920s Berlin Project by watching Monday’s edition of Designing Worlds, the weekly show on design and designers in virtual worlds, on Treet.TV. The show goes out at 2pm Pacific / 22:00 GMT — click here at that time to view it. Alternatively, the show will be available on the Designing Worlds page above a day or two later.

The ZBS Radio Hour

At 11am and 7pm Pacific / 19:00 and 03:00 GMT, tune in for the latest installments of our serials from ZBS Foundation. (See separate entry.)

Become A Sponsor

Radio Riel offers sponsorship to individuals and businesses that would like to contribute to our efforts in bringing our eclectic variety of music and programming to Second Life residents and listeners on the Internet.